Con Air (1997)

Nicolas Cage Film Fest Movie #4 (dang - this would have been perfect for the John Cusack film fest last year!)

Synopsis: Slippery, sociopathic scofflaws skyjack soaring slammer; sentenced soldier spoils strategy.

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “A prison parolee (Nicolas Cage) – on his way to freedom – faces impossible odds when the maximum security transport plane he’s on is skyjacked by the most vicious criminals in the country... let by the infamous murderer  Cyrus ‘The Virus’ Grissom (John Malkovich)!”

What Did I Learn?: Sunsets and newborn babies are beautiful. Muscle cars with license plates that read: “Azz Kickr” are “fucking spectacular”.

You Might Like This Movie If: You really want to hear Nicolas Cage utter some of the worst lines of dialogue ever written.

Really?: Oh God, where do I begin? Well, let’s start with the opening scenes: I had an extremely hard time believing a decorated Gulf War vet would somehow receive eight years in jail for killing a man in a fairly obvious case of self-defence. 2) Oh, and I had a harder time believing Cyrus wouldn’t allow the cons to rape the attractive female guard because… I don’t think he even gives a reason. 3) Does this movie take place in the late 1930s? I’m pretty sure the authorities could track that plane, even without its transponder, with the help of a certain technology called radar.

Rating: Con Air starts out well with a suspenseful set-up, but descends into a morass of explosions, completely implausible action sequences, atrocious dialogue and one-dimensional characters screaming at each other(the talented Colm Meany is wasted as an over-the-top-obnoxious DEA agent who owns a car that screams: “asshole”). Con Air’s biggest problem? There’s. Too. Much. Stuff. Too many roles; too many explosions, too many twists and turns, and it’s far too long – the final motorcycles-and-firetruck chase is simply gratuitous. 5.5/10 stars.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118880/